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Knights of Columbus poll: Two-thirds of Americans support some abortion restrictions

January 18, 2024 Catholic News Agency 1
Participants in a pro-life rally hold signs in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on June 24, 2023, at a rally marking the first anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. / Credit: Joseph Portolano/CNA

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 18, 2024 / 15:45 pm (CNA).

About two-thirds of Americans support some level of government restrictions on abortion, according to a recent poll released by the Knights of Columbus. 

The poll, which the Knights conducted with Marist Institute for Public Opinion at Marist College, found that 66% of Americans believe that “limits should be placed on when abortion is allowed” and only 33% believe that “abortion should be allowed without any limits” when given the two options.

Respondents who labeled themselves pro-life were more likely to support limits on abortion, with 91% choosing that answer. Among respondents who said they were pro-choice, 48% still believed there should be some limits on abortion. About 84% of Republicans supported some limits on abortion, as did 49% of Democrats and 66% of independents. 

About 40% of respondents said that abortion should not be allowed in most circumstances: 9% said it should not be allowed in any circumstance, 9% said it should only be allowed to save the life of the mother, and 22% said it should only be allowed in cases of rape, incest, and to save the life of the mother.

Another 18% of respondents said that abortion should only be allowed within the first three months of pregnancy.

The poll found that 58% of Americans consider themselves pro-choice and 40% of Americans consider themselves pro-life. About 70% of Republicans considered themselves pro-life, as did 16% of Democrats and 39% of independents.

“Once again, most Americans are steadfast in their belief that abortion should be significantly limited yet laws should include exceptions for rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother,” Barbara Carvalho, the director of the Marist Poll, said in a statement.

“This clear trend found in the annual Knights of Columbus-Marist Poll has continued, nearly two years after the Supreme Court’s landmark Dobbs decision.”

The poll also found that a small majority of respondents, 53%, are against tax money being used to support abortion domestically. A larger proportion, 67%, do not support the use of American tax money to support abortion abroad. 

About 66% of respondents said they do not believe that pro-life doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals should be legally required to perform abortions. About 83% of those polled said they support the work of pregnancy resource centers, which provide services to pregnant women but do not offer abortion. 

“This year’s poll makes clear that a consistent consensus of Americans supports legal restrictions on abortion, and an overwhelming majority support pregnancy resource centers, which assist mothers and their children in greatest need,” Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly said in a statement. 

“I’m very proud that our Knights across the U.S. and Canada have raised more than $7 million to support these vital centers through our ASAP, or Aid and Support After Pregnancy program,” Kelly added. 

“Knights have also funded the purchase of over 1,790 ultrasounds, empowering an estimated 1.5 million mothers to see their unborn babies. The Knights of Columbus will continue to work tirelessly in our mission until abortion becomes unthinkable.”

Since the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, more than 20 states have imposed abortion restrictions, which includes more than a dozen states prohibiting abortion in almost all circumstances. Several other states, meanwhile, have moved to expand access to abortion in the wake of Roe’s repeal.

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Activist group projects pro-choice messages on Washington basilica on eve of March for Life

January 20, 2022 Catholic News Agency 0
Twitter post by Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco on Jan. 20, 2022, reacting to an activist group’s projection of pro-choice messages on the facade of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. / Screen shot of Twitter post

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 20, 2022 / 23:16 pm (CNA).

Pro-life Catholic leaders reacted with shock and disgust at an activist group’s projection of pro-choice messages on the fascade of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception Thursday night in Washington, D.C., on the eve of the annual March for Life.

The group Catholics for Choice took responsibility for the images, which were beamed from a median across the street from the basilica while a prayer vigil to end abortion was going on inside.

In large letters visible blocks from the basilica, the messages read “PRO CHOICE CATHOLICS YOU ARE NOT ALONE,” “1 IN 4 ABORTION PATIENTS IS CATHOLIC,” and “PRO CHOICE CATHOLICS.”

Other slogans included the words “STOP STIGMATIZING” and “START LISTENING” on the church. The words were projected on both the 329-foot bell tower and upper facade of the church above the front entrance.

Ashley Wilson, director of communications and strategy for Catholics for Choice, tweeted an explanation of the group’s protest. 

“I know that my faith teaches Catholics to honor personal conscience,” she wrote. “And yet, the Catholic hierarchy seeks to polarize pro-choice Catholics and villainize people who make the moral choice to have abortions.”

“I am tired of feeling shame and stigma for being a pro-choice Catholic,” Wilson added. “And I’m not here for people to judge my own personal relationship with God.”

At 6:42 p.m. EST Catholics for Choice tweeted “FACT: 68% of Catholics want #RoeVWade to remain the law of the land. The #MarchForLife & @usccb want folks to think they speak for Catholics, but nothing could be further from the truth.”

The images were first reported on Twitter at 6:31 p.m. EST by reporter Jack Jenkins of Religious News Service. Widely shared on social media, the images drew some support but also sharp denunciations.

“The attempted desecration is enormous. Diabolical,” Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco tweeted. “Mother Mary, pray for them, now and at the hour of death. Amen.”

“Just when you thought @Catholic4Choice couldn’t sink any lower. The group inside is praying for babies and mothers—and for the group outside to repent and believe the Gospel,” tweeted Ryan T. Anderson, president of the Ethics & Public Policy Center.

“The President of the United States is the most prominent Catholic in America.  He must condemn this immediately,” tweeted CatholicVote.org. “His implicit defiance of Catholic social teaching on life has fueled this division in our church that activists are now exploiting.”

Others were incredulous at the images they saw of the basilica.

“If this is real it is an atrocity. Support of murder projected on the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception???” tweeted Bishop Joseph E. Strickland of Tyler, Texas. “I pray that it is a fake photo photoshopped for evil purposes. If it is real it is horrible & even faking it is evil.”

The provocative action by Catholics for Choice underscores a rise in hostility toward this year’s March for Life, when many pro-life Americans are hopeful that the U.S. Supreme Court will strike down the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide. A decision in the Mississippi case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization is expected in June.

On Saturday, a group called NYC for Abortion Rights plans to hold a rally titled “F— the March for Life” outside St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Midtown Manhattan. “Come picket and MAKE SOME NOISE with us!! We’re disrupting the Catholic Church’s anti-abortion bull— on the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision,” the group tweeted Wednesday.

“MEANWHILE, we’re going to commemorate by disrupting their bull—- as much as we can, at the symbol of the Catholic Church’s grotesque power in NY. Come speak out, sing, play, and show the antis that abortion isn’t going away, and we aren’t either,” the tweet says. 

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